blog no. 19: My first voting experience

Today I made the first presidential vote of my life. After neglecting to vote in the 2004 election I felt un-American so I wasn’t going to let this election pass me by. Because it was my first time I did not know exactly what to expect. Before arriving at the polling station I was a bit jittery and anxious. For some reason I imagined a hostile environment with advocates from each party heckling voters. Also, I was surprised to learn that there is no campaign materials allowed within 40 feet of the poll entrance, I guess this is to keep the voting discrete and to avoid any altercations between voters and their votes being cast.

I went by myself and chose to go at 11:00 am to avoid crowds. Upon arrival to Woodson High School, I only encountered a couple of people soliciting the voting sight. Some were handing out sample voter ballots for the Republican and Democratic Party and a few people selling coffee and doughnuts. On my way to vote I grabbed one of the sample ballots just to see what I should expect on the ballot and a doughnut to satisfy my sweet tooth. The line was very short, approximately 10 people stood in front of me. I was also expecting an electronic ballot but instead I was given a paper ballot with four bubbles to fill in. After avoiding my temptation to write in ‘Lil Wayne’ for President I made my votes in a cardboard cubicle, then proceeded to the vote counter. I placed my card into the machine which was then verified by a digital screen. I would have felt more comfortable receiving a receipt for my vote but I had no choice.

Overall it was a very good experience. I encountered no problems whatsoever. Not to mention my delight after reciveing perks from my “I just voted” sticker which included free ice cream and a Krisy Cream doughnut.

This entry was posted on November 5, 2008 at 2:31 am and filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed.
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